Feds preparing to charge Bundy ranch supporters over Utah protest

A sign sits at the beginning of a road that goes into thousands of acres of Bureau of Land Management land that has been temporarily closed to round-up illegal cattle that are grazing south of Mesquite Nevada on April 11, 2014 in Mesquite, Nevada. (AFP Photo / Getty Images / George Frey)

Federal officials have opened up an investigation into whether or not Cliven Bundy supporters damaged a protected archaeological site when they rode all-terrain vehicles through it during a weekend protest.

On Saturday, hundreds of protesters gathered near southern Utah’s
Recapture Canyon, voicing their opposition to the fact that the
area has been closed to recreational vehicles by the Bureau of
Land Management since 2007. After the rally, dozens of people
descended upon the canyon in ATVs, driving the vehicles through restricted areas.

As RT reported previously, the BLM had barred motorized vehicles
from Recapture Canyon after it discovered an illegal trail that
was built through Native American archaeological sites – home to
artifacts, dwellings and other objects left behind by the ancient
Pueblo tribe that were as old as 2,000 years.

According to Reuters, local sheriff’s deputies and undercover BLM
agents kept an eye on the protest as it unfolded, gathering
information for a probe that could lead to charges if damages are
confirmed.

"At the end of the BLM's investigation, all evidence will be
referred to the US Attorney's Office for potential civil or
criminal action," agency spokeswoman Megan Crandall told the
news outlet.

As noted by the Associated Press, between 40 and 50 ATV riders
went out onto the trail, many sporting American flags and
possessing weapons as they rode through the canyon. No arrests
were made and no violence was reported, but one Colorado-based
environmental group said the government should press charges.

"It's not appropriate to break the law, do an illegal ride
and go into the canyons with weapons," Shelley Silbert of
the Great Old Broads for Wilderness group said to the AP.
"That's very different than a non-violent, civil disobedience
protest."

For protesters, however, sealing off the park to motorized
vehicles was yet another example of government “overreach”
regarding public land. The man behind the protest – San Juan
County Commissioner Phil Lyman – criticized the BLM not only for
closing off Recapture Canyon, but also for not processing
“right of way” requests that would’ve allowed vehicles
to re-enter the area.

"This was never an ATV agenda," Lyman told Reuters.
"It had to do with the BLM not following its own process and
ignoring the people most effected by its decisions."

"We’re not proponents of breaking the law," he said on
Saturday. "This was a supervisor’s discretionary closure.
It’s a county road. We claim it. Just because BLM owns the
property, that doesn’t mean they own the right-of-way that
exists."

Although Lyman – who said he orchestrated the protest as private
citizen – expressed concern over the possibility that charges may
be levied, it remains unclear if such a development will occur.
He added that when he visited the site of the protest again on
Sunday there was no damage noticeable.

Speaking on Monday, Jerry Spangler of the Colorado Plateau
Archaeological Alliance cautioned what it would mean for
Recapture Canyon to be spoiled by the protests.

"Damage to archaeological sites is permanent and the
information about our collective past is then lost forever,"
he said. "It is sad that irreplaceable treasures of
importance to all Americans would be sacrificed on the altar of
anti-government fervor. It is worse that protesters would be so
blinded to their own insensitivity as to what others consider to
be sacred treasures of their past."

Land rights disputes have made headlines in the US ever since an
armed confrontation occurred between the BLM and Nevada rancher
Cliven Bundy in April. The BLM claimed Bundy owed taxpayers $1
million in unpaid grazing fees and attempted to seize his cattle
before the rancher’s supporters – including armed militia members
– came to his defense. Bundy said he does not owe the government
anything, since he’s been working on land used by his ancestors.